Name Badges Are A Best Business Practice

By Author: Alina Carter
Total Articles: 5
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There’s an odd stigma about name badges and no one really knows where or why it originated. Often, employees (especially the younger variety) will ask “Why do I have to wear my [insert descriptor of your choice here] name badge???” You managers might be tempted to reply Do you want to keep your job? But, surely, you opt for a more workplace friendly response, prompting you to ask, “How do I get my employees to simply wear their name badges???”

Is the hubbub over wearing name badges really worth the bother? The short, immediate, and definite answer is yes. For reasons of customer service and communication, the answer is an overwhelming YES.

Firstly, the customer service piece: Research shows that quality of customer service by those wearing name badges vs. those not wearing name badges is notably higher at times as much as 12% higher—than those individuals working without name badges. Is it merely a customer perception? Are those employees truly working 12% better than their no-name badge counterparts? The reason doesn’t really matter. If your ...
... business can be perceived as more customer friendly simply by wearing a customized name badge, then by all means, do so! What a simple and inexpensive way to garner customer appreciation!

And now on to communication — which can mean professionalism and camaraderie between co-workers, as well as professionalism and rapport between employees and customers. Customers and employees alike come across many, many different people in their travels and company related dealings. Not everyone is good at the name game remembering and associating names and faces. Name badges take all that memorising and pressure out of the equation, allowing for customers to comfortably approach employees with confidence and ease, and making for relations between employees smoother by not having to start an acquaintance with “What’s your name?”

Which brings us back to the eternal battle of Why do I have to wear this name badge? When you are interviewing prospective employees, it is a must to lay out certain, nonnegotiable expectations upon which their employment is contingent. The wearing of your company name badge should be on this list of expectations. It’s that simple. You can also do some teambuilding by extolling the benefits of wearing the name badge. But, most importantly, your employees must be led by example: you, as the manager, boss, CEO, whatever your title—you must wear your name badge on the job, no matter what. Doing what you ask your employees to do will go a long way towards getting them to follow your directions, because they’ll be following your lead. And getting your crew onboard with this practice of name badge wearing will, ultimately, be one of the best things you can do for your business.